Sit Down with Christ, Like the Woman at the Well

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Imagine being able to sit down with Christ, like the Woman at the Well, and have a personal conversation with him; being able to share with him our thoughts our concerns and get his advice and counsel; and talk with him about what we are suppose to do, how we are to do it, what action we are suppose to take.  Wow, wouldn’t that be a marvelous gift?

Holding that thought, let me recap the themes the Church has put before us these first weeks of Lent.  So far, Fr. Mike led us from recognizing that temptation by the evil one is real to an awareness that Jesus and his saints are there for us as we try to live faith filled lives.    

Our Lenten journey started with Christ’s Temptations in the Desert where Jesus was tempted with offers of pleasure, power, and honor.  On that First Sunday of Lent, Fr. Mike talked of how the evil one would likely tempt us and how he could surface in our lives as envy or pride? 

Like those temptations presented to Jesus, those presented to us entice us to do what looks to be a “good”.  Temptation is deceptively attractive and resisting it is not easy.    

Last week, we heard about the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor where Jesus showed some of his friends a glimpse of his divine brilliance.  It also showed them that they were not alone in their mission.  Like Christ, they too would be supported by the Father and by his Saints.    

Like the disciples, we also, are not alone as we go through life.  Jesus did not stay on that mountain.  He went with his friends back to the valley below where he continued to experience the ups and downs of life.  The glorious Christ IS before us!  But the loving Christ is WITH us, helping us get through our sometimes hectic and difficult lives. 

This week, we have the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well and Christ’s offer of “Living Water”.

Some of you may not know that the theme of the twelve stained glass windows in the main body of our church is the “I am” sayings of John’s gospel.  Jesus said at various points; “I am this”; “I am that” such as “I am the bread of life” or “I am the vine” or “I am the gate”.  If you look at the second window along the South wall you will see a water jug being poured out with hands, fish, and a bowl in the outflow.  That is an artist’s rendition of “Living Water”.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is sitting at a well in Samaria.  Samaria is the land between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south.  During the time of the Babylonian exile (around 587BC) the Jews were taken into captivity and moved to Babylon.  Some people remained behind in the lands of Samaria.  They took up the role of the people of God and claimed to be the true decedents of Abraham.  They even considered one of their mountains, Mt. Gerizim, as where God spoke from and not Mt. Sinai.  Obviously, when the true people of God returned from exile a few hundred years later and saw these interlopers on their land recasting themselves and their mountain into Jewish history, they were upset. 

In today’s gospel, Christ and his disciples travel from Judea to Galilee, passing through Samaria; however, it seems that Jesus had no fear of being left alone in this hostile land and the disciples had no fear of leaving him alone there; and, not only alone but without means to quench his thirst.

Since this band of faithful was traveling a long distance, they would surely have had a leather bucket with them with which to retrieve water from wells along their route.  The disciples apparently took this bucket with them as they went off to search for food in the neighboring town.  This left Christ thirsty, but without the means to satisfy that thirst.

So, here comes this woman to the well at high noon.  Now, this was not the regular time for a Samaritan woman to come to the well; it was too hot at this time of day.  She and the other women from town would normally come at dawn or at dusk, when it was cooler.  Also, she brought only a clay jar; a vessel that would likely break as it hit the sides of the lined well if she were to use it to pull water up from its depths.  Both Jesus and the woman seemed ill-prepared for the task of quenching physical thirst.   

Given these unusual circumstances, I think it is clear that something other than the satisfaction of physical thirst is being orchestrated here.  Jesus apparently needed to speak with this woman alone and events transpired to effect that result. 

I think Christ sometimes wants to talk with us alone.  One way we can make ourselves available for that is through Eucharistic Adoration.  In our Tabernacle, Jesus “dwells among us” in Real Presence.  There, Christ is available for a personal conversation, just as he had with the Samaritan Woman.  He is here, sitting at the well, waiting for us to show up with our empty buckets. 

Jesus has living water to offer us, and when we drink of it, it will change our lives.  I have heard many parishioners express deep desires to increase participation in Hours of Adoration; recognizing it as a unique source of personal and community grace.  There seems to be an increasing hunger and desire on the part of St. Patrick’s parishioners to make this act of worship a central means of personal spiritual enrichment.    

Transformation of our lives begins with a sense of sin; a realization that life as we are living it will not do.  Through dialogue with Christ, we awaken to ourselves and we awaken to our need of God.  We cannot communicate Christ to others until we have discovered him for ourselves.  First to find, then to tell, are the two great steps of the Christian pilgrimage.  Come, sit down with Christ, and, as we were told by God the Father in last week’s gospel, “listen to him”.

Imagine being able to sit down with Christ, like the Woman at the Well, and just talk with him about life, about decisions, about direction in our lives.  Wow, what a marvelous gift that would be!  Wow, what a marvelous gift that IS!

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